Coalition Blog

Title X, the only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning, plays an essential role in proving access to preventive health care in Texas and the nation. The Center for Public Policy Priorities strongly supports the Office of Population Affair’s efforts to clarify and reinforce the longstanding requirement that health care providers not be […]

Texas Impact's Board of Directors, representing more than two-dozen Christian, Jewish, and Muslim denominational bodies, as well as hundreds of local congregations, ministerial alliances and interfaith networks, and thousands of people of faith throughout Texas, adopted the statement below on September 13 at their biennial legislative board retreat.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the number of Texans without health insurance continues to decline. Over 432,000 fewer Texans were uninsured in 2015 than in 2014. But despite the progress, Texas still has both the largest number (4.6 million) and percentage (17.1) of uninsured residents in the country. Today’s release of the Current […]

The 1115 Medicaid Waiver has provided critical funding for uncompensated care in Texas hospitals and innovative DSRIP projects – including projects to address unintended pregnancy, birth outcomes, and maternal health – in communities throughout the state. With the stopgap Waiver extension expiring at the end of 2017, next year state leaders must develop a Texas plan to expand health coverage in order to avoid a severe cut in health care funding provided through the Waiver. If the Waiver expires without a plan in place, Texas communities would face a $1.3 billion cut in health care funding in 2018 and deeper cuts in the future. It's important to note that whether or not Texas reaches a Waiver renewal agreement, and whether or not Texas accepts Medicaid expansion funding, the federal funding will not be renewed for uncompensated care for Texans who could be...

Watch testimony from Anne Dunkelberg, Associate Director for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, during an interim hearing with the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, September 13, 2016.

Watch more clips from the September 13 Health and Human Services interim hearing here.

As the Legislature prepares to address the expiring 1115 Medicaid Waiver, and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee holds a hearing Tuesday on the Waiver, let's take a look at what's at stake for the state and for your county.

Hello! I’m excited to join the Health and Wellness team at CPPP as the organization’s first Hogg Foundation Mental Health Policy Fellow. I am a native of Monterrey, Mexico. I moved to Austin in 2010 to attend the University of Texas at Austin, and this past May I graduated with a Master of Public Affairs […]

If you go to a hospital that is in your insurance company’s network, you can assume you’ll only get in-network medical bills, right? That is now true in four of the five largest U.S. states, but not here in Texas. This week California passed Assembly Bill 72, a strong bill that protects California patients from […]

This post originally appeared on Texas Well and Healthy. A Texas Senate Committee travelling the state to discuss property tax reform is hearing loud and clear that accepting Medicaid expansion funding should be part of their strategy, and now they’ve received a response to many of the questions and comments they’ve offered during those hearings. Medicaid expansion […]

Several insurers have announced plans to withdraw from the Marketplace in 2017, both in Texas and nationally. Aetna, United Healthcare, and Scott and White have each announced that they will not offer plans on the Texas Marketplace in 2017. Humana has indicated that it will exit some state Marketplaces, participating in 11 states in 2017 compared to 19 states this year. Humana hasn’t yet...

The spread of the mosquito-borne virus known as Zika, the first new virus in 50 years to have known links to serious birth defects, has national and state officials working quickly to address the disease in Texas. To help combat Zika, Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt met on Monday, August 22, in Austin with various faith community leaders and Texas Impact staff to discuss Texas’ Zika plan. Several more congregational and denominational leaders called in by phone to hear the Commissioner's report.

Several insurers have announced plans to withdraw from the Marketplace in 2017, both in Texas and nationally. Aetna, United Healthcare, and Scott and White have each announced that they will not offer plans on the Texas Marketplace in 2017. Humana has indicated that it will exit some state Marketplaces, participating in 11 states in 2017 […]

We all want children to be healthy, succeed in school, and grow up to be our next generation of great teachers, helpful co-workers, and effective leaders. The first step is ensuring healthy pregnancies and healthy births. One of the most effective strategies to improve health outcomes for moms and babies is to make sure moms receive the care they need before, during, and after pregnancy.

That’s why the July 1st launch of two newly redesigned programs in Texas – the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) program and the Family Planning Program (FPP) – is so important. Through these two programs, eligible low-income women can get preventive health screenings, women’s health exams, and family planning, including contraception, at little or no cost. When women...

Are you a college student? Recent grad? Twenty-something worker? Come find out what the Coverage Gap means for you...and how to take action to secure coverage for you and other young Texans!Location:United Way of Southern Cameron County634 East Levee St.BrownsvilleFor more information contact michelle.castillo@younginvincibles.org

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas unveiled Monday a revamped women’s health program for low-income residents that includes a boost in family planning services that the conservative state will no longer let Planned Parenthood and other organizations affiliated with abortion providers offer.

More than 5,000 health care providers are part of the new program, Healthy Texas Women, said Charles Smith, head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. That’s a 30 percent increase from 2014, and about triple the number of providers in the state women’s health program as recently as 2011.

Those totals may alleviate abortion rights advocates’ complaints that Texas state lawmakers created a care shortage when they booted Planned Parenthood and other health organizations from Texas’ women’s health program beginning five years ago.

So many providers have already joined because Healthy Texas Women is not entirely new. It instead combines the already state-...

A Texas Senate Committee travelling the state to discuss property tax reform is hearing loud and clear that accepting Medicaid expansion funding should be part of their strategy, and now they’ve received a response to many of the questions and comments...

A new survey confirms that Texans believe their neighbors should have an affordable health insurance option. The Houston Chronicle and other media outlets recently reported that 63 percent of Texans agree with the Texas business groups, doctors, faith leaders, and others who want state leaders to accept Medicaid...